The Film Experience

Soon we'll start daily 'year in review' parties, but here's an early one...

It's time for a special box office report AND the kick off to our year in review party. Yes, yes, everyone knows that Disney/Marvel owned the domestic and international box office with Black Panther and Infinity War, respectively. Yet there is far more to the story of ticket sales than just one studio and superhero films in general.

It's much more interesting to break it down into types of films and see which films most interested the ticket-buying public. We'll have separate reports on foreign films and documentaries but for now nine other categories!

🔺 = means that the film is still in release so its place in these rankings is not yet settled. All figures are as of March 24th, 2018

TOP ORIGINALS
NOT PRE-EXISTING / NOT (YET) A FRANCHISE

01 🔺Bohemian Rhapsody (Fox) $215.9 (Nov 2nd)
02 A Quiet Place (Paramount) $188 (April 6th)
03 The Mule (Warner Bros) $103.8 (Dec 14th)...
04 I Can Only Imagine (Roadside Attractions) $83.4 (March 16th)
05 Night School (Universal) $77.1 (Sept 28th)
06 Game Night (Warner Bros) $69 (Feb 23rd)
07 Book Club (Paramount) $68.5 (May 18th)...
08 Skyscraper (Universal) $67.7 (July 13th)
09 Instant Family (Paramount) $67.3 (Nov 16th)
10 Blockers (Universal) $60.1 (April 6th)

Runner Up: Hereditary (A24), Tyler Perry's Acrimony (Lionsgate)... no other originals made $40 million plus

TOP ADAPTATIONS
(excluding comic books or the list would be all superheroes and remakes, too. Also excluding regular sequels which are only "adapted" insofar as awards season rules being 'based on characters originally created by'...)

01 Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros) $174.5 (Aug 15th) - novel
02 The Meg (Warner Bros) $143 (Aug 10th) - novel
03 Ready Player One Warner Bros $137 (March 29th) - novel
04 A Wrinkle in Time (Disney) $100.4 (March 9th) - novel
05 Rampage (Warner Bros) $99.3 (April 13th) - video game
06 Smallfoot (Warner Bros) $82.2 (Sept 28th) - novel
07 A Simple Favor (Lionsgate) $53.5 (Sept 14th) - novel
08 BlacKkKlansman (Focus) $48.2 (August 10th) - autobiography
09 Red Sparrow (Fox) $46.8 (March 2nd) - novel
10 12 Strong (Warner Bros) $45.5 (January 19th) - non-fiction book

Runners Up: First Man (Universal), Widows (Fox), Love Simon (Fox), The 15:17 to Paris (Warner Bros), Annihilation (Paramount), and Slender Man (Screen Gems) ...no other adaptations earned over $30 million

NOT QUITE ORIGINALS
(BUT NOT QUITE SEQUELS OR REGULAR ADAPTATIONS)
REMAKES / INTENDED FRANCHISE LAUNCHES / SPIN-OFFS

01 Black Panther (Disney / Marvel) $700 (Feb 16th) - spin-off / franchise launch
02 🔺 Aquaman (Warner Bros) $334.7 (Dec ) spin-off / franchise launch
03 Dr Seuss' The Grinch (Universal) $270.6 (Nov 9th) - reworking
04 🔺A Star is Born (Warner Bros) $215.2 (October 5th) - remake
05 Venom (Sony) $213.4 (October 5th) - spin-off / franchise launch
06 🔺 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse $189.8 (Dec 14th) spin-off
07 Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros) $174 (Aug 15th) - franchise launch
08 Bumblee (Paramount) $127.1 (Dec 21st) -spin-off / franchise launch
09 The Nun (Warner Bros) $117.4 (Sept 7th) - spin-off
10 Peter Rabbit (Columbia) $115.2 (February 9th) - reworking

Runners Up: Rampage, Christopher Robin, Tomb Raider The Nutcracker and the Four Realms... no other films in this category made over $50 million

TOP GROSSING FILMS WITH A FEMALE LEAD
(Excluding films where a male lead is just as prominent as his female co-star.
Sorry A Star is Born and A Quiet Place)

01 Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros) $174.5 (Aug 15th) starring Constance Wu
02 🔺 Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) $171.8 (December 19th) starring Emily Blunt
03 Halloween (Universal) $159.1 (Oct 19th) starring Jamie Lee Curtis
04 Oceans 8 (Warner Bros) $139.3 (June 8th) starring Sandra Bullock & Cate Blanchett
05 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Universal) $120.6 (July 20th) starring Amanda Seyfried & Lily James
06 A Wrinkle in Time (Disney) $100 (March 9th) starring Storm Reid
07 Book Club (Paramount) $68.5 (May 18th) starring Jane Fonda & Diane Keaton
08 Tomb Raider (Warner Bros) $57.4 (March 16th) starring Alicia Vikander
09 The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Disney) $54.7 starring MacKenzie Foy
10 A Simple Favor (Lionsgate) $53.5 (Sept 14th) starring Anna Kendrick & Blake Lively

Runners Up List: Melissa McCarthy in Life of the Party, Amy Schumer in I Feel Pretty, Jennifer Lawrence in Red Sparrow, Gabrielle Union in Breaking In, Toni Collette in Hereditary, Taraji P Henson in Tyler Perry's Acrimony and Viola Davis in Widows. No other films with a female lead earned more than $40 million.

TOP GROSSING FILMS DIRECTED BY A WOMAN
(Apologies if we missed someone! Note: We did not include documentaries in this list. We'll cover docs separately but the documentary business has long been more accepting of female filmmakers)

01 A Wrinkle in Time (Disney) $100 (March 9th) directed by Ava DuVernay
02 Blockers (Universal) $60.1 (April 6th) directed by Kay Cannon
03 I Feel Pretty (STX) $48.7 (April 20th) co-directed by Abby Kohn
04 The Spy Who Dumped Me (Lionsgate) $33.5 (August 3rd) directed by Susanna Fogel
05 On the Basis of Sex (Focus Features) $24.6 (December 25th) directed by Mimi Leder
06 Mary Queen of Scots (Focus) $16.4 (December 7th) directed by Josie Rourke
07 The Darkest Minds (Fox) $12.6 (August 3rd) directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
08 Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Fox Searchlight) $8 (Oct 19th) directed by Marielle Heller
09 Leave No Trace (Bleecker Street) $6 (June 29th) directed by Debra Granik
10 You Were Never Really Here (Amazon) $2.5 (April 6th) directed by Lynne Ramsay

Runners Up: The Rider (Chloe Zhao), Destroyer (Karyn Kusama), The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Desiree Akhavan), Let the Sunshine In (Claire Denis), The Party (Sally Potter), and Boundaries (Shana Feste) ... no other female helmed films crossed $500k+ at the box office though.

TOP GROSSING FILMS DIRECTED BY A PERSON OF COLOR
(apologies if we missed someone!)

01 Black Panther (Disney / Marvel) $700 (Feb 16th) directed by Ryan Coogler
02 🔺 Aquaman (Warner Bros) $334.7 (Dec 21st) directed by James Wan
03 🔺 Spider-Man Into the Spider-verse (Sony) $189.8 (Dec 14th) codirector Peter Ramsey
04 Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros) $174.5 (Aug 15th) directed by Jon Chu
05 Creed II (MGM) $114.6 (Nov 21st) directed by Steven Caple Jr
06 Equalizer 2 (Sony) $102 (July 20th) directed by Antoine Fuqua
07 A Wrinkle in Time (Disney) $100 (March 9th) directed by Ava DuVernay
08 The First Purge (Gerard McMurray) $69 (July 4th) directed by Gerard McMurray
09 BlacKkKlansman (Focus Features) $48.6 (Aug 10th) directed by Spike Lee
10 Tyler Perry's Acrimony (Liongsate) $43.5 (March 30th) directed by Tyler Perry

Runners up: Uncle Drew (Charles Stone III), Widows (Steve McQueen), Alpha (Albert Hughes), Super Trooper 2 (Jay Chandrasekhar), Slender Man (Sylvain White), The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr), and Searching (Aneesh Chaganty) the latter of which was hugely profitable given a budget of just $1 million!. No other films directed by a person of color racked up $25+ million.

TOP GROSSING FILMS DIRECTED BY AN OUT MEMBER OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY
(apologies if we missed someone!)

01 🔺Bohemian Rhapsody $215.9 (Nov 2nd) directed by Bryan Singer
02 🔺Mary Poppins Returns $171.8 (Dec 19th) directed by Rob Marshall
03 Love Simon (Fox) $40.8 (March 16th) directed by Greg Berlanti
04 Colette (Bleecker Street) $5.1 (Sept 21st) directed by Wash Westmoreland
05 Suspiria (Amazon) $2.4 (October 26th) directed by Luca Guadagnino
06 The Seagull (SPC) $1.2 (May 11th) directed by Michael Mayer
07 Lean on Pete (A24) $1.1 (April 6th) directed by Andrew Haigh
08 The Miseducation of Cameron Post (FilmRise) $904k (Aug 3rd) directed by Desiree Akhavan
09 The Cakemaker (Strand) $871k (June 29th) directed by Ofir Raul Graizer
10 The Happy Prince (SPC) $464k (October 10th) directed by Rupert Everett

Runners Up: Under $200,000 but tiny theatrical runs for Double Lover (François Ozon), How to Talk to Girls at Parties (John Cameron Mitchell) and The Misandrists (Bruce la Bruce). Those thirteen films are the only (narrative) films we know of directed by out members of the community but there could be more, especially in the arthouse market and in foreign language titles.

TOP TEN ANIMATED FILMS

01 Incredibles 2 (Disney / Pixar) $608.5 (June 15th)
02 Dr Seuss' The Grinch (Universal) $270.3 (Nov 9th)
03 🔺 Ralph Breaks the Internet (Disney) $200.9 (Nov 21st)
04 🔺Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony) $189.8 (Dec 14th)
05 Hotel Transylvania 3 (Sony) $167.5 (July 13th)
06 Smallfoot (Warner Bros) $82.4 (Sept 28th)
07 Sherlock Gnomes (Paramount) $43.2 (March 23rd)
08 Isle of Dogs (Fox Searchlight) $32 (March 23rd)
09 Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (Warner Bros) $29.5 (July 27th)
10 Early Man (Lionsgate) $8.2 (Feb 16th)

Runners Up: My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, Sgt Stubby an American Hero and Mary and the Witches Flower ... nothing else cracked the million dollar mark.

TOP TEN BOX OFFICE HITS, PERIOD.

01 Black Panther (Disney / Marvel) $700 (Feb 16th)
02 Avengers: Infinity War (Disney / Marvel) $678.8 (April 27th)
03 Incredibles 2 (Disney / Pixar) $608.5 (June 15th)
04 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Universal) $416.7 (June 22nd)
05 🔺 Aquaman (Warner Bros) $334.7 (December 21st)
06 Deadpool 2 (Fox) $318.4 (May 18th)
07 Dr Seuss' The Grinch (Universal) $270.6 (November 9th)
08 Mission: Impossible - Fallout (Paramount) $220.1 (July 27th)
09 Ant-Man and the Wasp (Disney/Marvel) $216.6 (July 6th)
10 🔺 Bohemian Rhapsody (Fox) $215.9 (November 2nd)

Runners Up: 🔺A Star is Born (Warner Bros), Solo: A Star Wars Story (Disney) Venom (Sony), Ralph Breaks the Internet (Disney), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony), A Quiet Place (Paramount), Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros), Mary Poppins Returns (Disney), Hotel Transylvania 3 (Sony), Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (Warner Bros) and Halloween (Universal). No other films made over $150+ million at the domestic box office

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THESE LISTS?
CAUSE FOR HOPE / ALARM / OR OTHER?